PACE Center for Girls

PACE Center for Girls provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy. Its holistic model responds specifically to the developmental needs of girls and is recognized as one of the nation’s most effective programs for keeping them in school and out of the juvenile justice system.

PACE Center for Girls (PACE) operates 19 non-residential prevention and early intervention centers in Florida that work with girls and young women, ages 11–17, at risk of dropping out of school and/or becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. During an average stay of 15 months, comprehensive educational, social, and career-readiness services help them succeed at home, in school and in the community, with the goal of attaining self-sufficiency as adults.

2014 Highlights

The Florida legislature approved a $2 million increase in its recurring line-item support of PACE that enabled PACE to open a center in Clay County in January 2015, serve 53 more girls at the existing 19 centers, and enhance services at all its centers. (In two years, PACE’s line item increased by more than 35 percent, from $11.5 to $15.6 million.)

In addition to the Clay County center, PACE opened a new center in Miami in January 2014.